Page 1 of 5
GRADUATE COUNCIL
____________________________________________________
Minutes of Meeting Held September 19, 2013
Present:
Dean Zhu, Professors Reed, Boboc, Monaghan, Sridhar, Gatica,
Plecnik, Ziolek, Sotiropoulos, Rutar, Bubenik, Resnick, Reinthal,
Zingale, Kosteas, Thornton, Schultheiss
Absent/Excused:
Professors Wang, Regoeczi
Guests:
Professors Raj Javalgi, Bruce McClain, Ron Mickler
Dean Zhu called the meeting to order at 2:01 p.m. He stated that the course conversion
process is proceeding. Graduate Council has approved and sent on all department
proposals that we have received thus far. We are waiting on information from the BGES
department but there are no new proposals to review at this time.
1. Approve Agenda – The Agenda was approved as written.
2. Approve minutes from May 6, 2013, August 29, 2013, and September 5, 2013
meetings - The minutes were approved as written.
3. New Business
 Proposals from the Business College
i. The Accounting department is proposing admissions changes to
the Master of Accountancy program.
 Approximately 3-5 years ago the GMAT admission
requirement was dropped for students with a 3.0 or above
GPA. Subsequently international students are being
admitted with very poor English language skills, in spite of
taking the TOEFL.
 In consultation with other College sources and Admissions’
personnel, it is felt that the Verbal portion of the GMAT is
a better indicator of English skills assessment.
 Therefore the department is re-instituting the GMAT for
international students for admission. The Verbal score will
be used as a better indicator of the students’ English skills.
 Dr. Zhu questioned the acceptance of a minimum score of
only the 5th percentile for the verbal portion of the GRE or
GMAT. Will this be enough of an indicator? Dr. McClain
shared that he has been advised it will be sufficient.
Page 2 of 5




An additional question was asked if it is known how many
students score below the 20th percentile. These students
will need remedial courses. Dr. McClain did not have that
data. He felt they might lose some students because of the
stricter requirements but the department has been
experiencing students failing in their program. Hopefully
this will alleviate some of those situations.
A motion was made to accept the admissions changes to
the Master of Accountancy program. The motion was
seconded and approved unanimously.
A personal experience comment was made that a high
score on the Verbal portion of the GMAT did not
necessarily show good English communication, since this is
a paper indicator. The TOEFL now includes a spoken
component so the combination of written and spoken
should be a better assessment.
A suggestion was made to keep statistics of success rates
“before” and “after” the admissions’ revisions.
ii. Master of Taxation-new program
 This new degree is a more marketable degree but also
similar to a current track, Master of Accounting, Tax Track.
 The Master of Accounting, Tax Track still includes a
background in accounting and business courses. Most
Master of Taxation degrees do not include the heavy
emphasis on accounting courses.
 The Master of Taxation will have different prerequisite
courses, without the emphasis on accounting of the Track.
 No additional teaching resources will be needed.
 This degree will help attract more students because it will
not emphasize accounting, the degree is more nationally
recognized, and employers prefer the Master of Taxation
degree over a Master of Accounting, Tax Track.
 Increasing student numbers from 40-50 to 75 would be a
worthwhile goal but numbers could be doubled without
increasing resources.
 The University of Akron has a Master of Taxation degree
and companies in Cleveland are more willing to send their
employees to Akron for the Master of Taxation degree
rather than to CSU for a Master of Accounting, Tax Track.
 Collaboration discussions for cross-listed courses have
been initiated with the Law School and would be a
possibility to pursue further.
 The Tax Track would not be eliminated. This track is
helpful for those students who wish to take the CPA exam.
Page 3 of 5



The admission requirements include taking the
GRE/GMAT for international students to access verbal
skills.
Dr. Zhu is suggesting that the reference to the University of
Akron relying heavily on adjunct faculty be re-written. It is
felt this will not be well-received by the University of
Akron and RACGS group during the voting process.
Removing the reference to “relies almost entirely on
adjunct faculty” and emphasizing CSU’s strengths would
be a more positive proposal.
A motion was made and seconded to approve the new
degree, Master’s of Taxation, with the removal of the
reference to the University of Akron using mostly
adjunct faculty for its program. The motion was
approved unanimously.
iii. New Graduate Certificate in Organizational Change
 The Management Department is proposing a new graduate
certificate of 5 courses, 3 required and 2 electives.
 Data is uncertain as to how many students would be
interested in completing this certificate, acknowledging that
the subject matter is current and important.
 Dr. Zhu shared with Council members that the University
will be looking closely at all our programs, certificates,
degrees to access enrollment numbers. There are currently
more programs than tenure track faculty members.
Therefore, new programs will need strong justification.
 It was suggested that students enroll in the new
Organizational Diagnostics course to receive training in
organizational change rather than pursue a certificate.
 It is felt that the MLR-HR students would be more
interested in this certificate, not the MBA students.
 Graduate Council members had several questions and
reservations concerning the presentation of this proposal,
including:
a. Information on the types of jobs available and
whether this certificate would increase
marketability.
b. Admission and exit criteria not clearly defined.
 Most Council members feel more information is needed
before considering a vote on this certificate. A motion was
made to return the proposal to the department and
request that the department provide more
information/data on the following points:
a. Data on student demand for this certificate (who
and how many will enroll?)
Page 4 of 5

b. The impact on faculty resources (Assuming the new
graduate courses require tenure track faculty, does
that mean more adjunct faculty will have to be hired
to cover lower level courses normally covered by
the tenure track faculty?)
c. Jobs available in the market; are these skills are in
demand?
d. Information on the prerequisites, entrance and exit
requirements
e. Are there similar programs anywhere else on
campus (Psychology)?
f. Is there strong department faculty support for this
program?
The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
iv. Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship (new)
 Associate Dean Javalgi gave an overview of the proposal
and the rationale for its creation from two perspectives
(business community and the University).
 From the business community perspective, the northeastern
Ohio economic area is becoming more vibrant with a
number of small businesses interested in hiring interns in
the entrepreneurship area. CSU has not been able to
accommodate the requests. Other Ohio universities have
been recruiting students from our area.
 On the University front, all Deans are supportive of this
proposal.
 CSU Alumni with their own businesses have offered
support financially and/or with internship requests.
 In the proposal, an “ecosystem” has put together various
units in the University and connects back to Technology
Transfer for commercialization.
 The Certificate includes 3 core courses and 2 electives for a
total of 15 or 16 credits. There are no prerequisites to the
courses.
 Dr. Zhu asked for an estimate of enrollment. Dr. Javalgi
used Babson College (Mass.) as an example. In the
beginning, only a handful of students enrolled but now they
have 300-400 students and are ranked #1 for the
entrepreneurship program. Dr. Javalgi assumes 3-4 from
each discipline until the CSU program grows.
 Many Council members are very supportive of this
proposal, could envision successful collaborations and
offered suggestions.
Page 5 of 5

A motion was made and seconded to approve the new
graduate certificate in Entrepreneurship. The motion
passed unanimously.
v. Concentration in Entrepreneurship
 This concentration is for the MBA Business students
 The concentration includes 3 courses for a total of 9 credits.
 A motion was made and seconded to approve the
concentration in Entrepreneurship for MBA students.
The motion was approved unanimously.
4. Graduate Council Representation & Standing Committees – Available reports
a. Faculty Senate – No graduate proposals were reviewed. The block
schedule was discussed.
b. University Admissions & Standards – No report
c. College of Graduate Studies’ Admissions & Standards – No report
d. University Curriculum Committee – There are more graduate 4-3
proposals coming. The deadline (Oct. 1) is initiated from the Registrar’s
office. Dr. Kosteas suggested any departments considering submissions
contact Janet Stimple to make her aware revisions are coming.
e. Graduate Faculty Review Committee – There are approximately 9-10
applications from new faculty. Individual Colleges should be revising
their Guidelines to align with the newly approved Graduate College
guidelines. The new Guidelines will be instituted in Spring 2014.
f. Petitions Committee – The first meeting took place. Dr. Schultheiss will
have petition numbers at the October Graduate Council meeting.
g. Grade Dispute Committee – No report
h. Program Review Committee – No report
i. University Research Council
 There is a revamped Research web page, all are encouraged to
visit.
 There is a renamed undergraduate student research award and
undergraduate student summer research award.
 The University has a patent attorney to assist with faculty
interested in applying for patents.
 The University has a new Research Corporation.
 There is a Faculty Innovation Fund, applications up to $40,000.
Applications for projects that can be commercialized are being
sought and will be reviewed as they are submitted.
5. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be Thursday, October 17 @ 2:00 p.m. in PH
200. If additional 4-3 course conversions are received, no additional meeting will be
scheduled before the 17th date, in spite of the Registrar’s deadline of October 1.
6. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 3:17 p.m.